Typhoon Fung-wong, locally known as Uwan, is the second in a week to affect the Philippines after making landfall on Sunday night. The weather system prompted warnings for heavy rain and the threat of new storms across much of the country, with gusts of up to 140mph (Hissh) on Sunday.
As Fil-wong passed over the Philippines earlier this week, more than 200mm of rain is expected to fall on Luzon, the country’s most populous island.
This follows typhoon Kalmaegi, which hit a week ago and left at least 224 people dead in the Philippines. The arrival of Typhoon Fung-wong forced authorities to suspend rescue operations for more than 100 missing people.
After crossing Luzon, Fung-wong is expected to move northwest into the South China Sea on Tuesday, before moving north toward Taiwan. Although there is some change in its track, Taiwan will likely face heavy rain, strong winds and flooding by midweek.
Meanwhile, parts of southwestern Europe will experience heavy rain, especially across the Iberian Peninsula. Rainfall over the weekend will exceed 100mm in Western Portugal and Spain in the Spanish region, with totals higher locally. Strong winds are also expected on Tuesday with Gusts Top 60mph.
Across the Atlantic, the South-Eastern US is in for its first significant cold spell of the season as polar winds push south. Temperatures in northern Florida are expected to drop about 15C (30f) below average for the time of year. After a warm weekend – with highs in the Florida Panhandle heading towards 30C on Saturday – a plunge to around 0c 7am time on Tuesday is coming.
A similar – and unusual – consequence of this sharp drop in temperature is that the local iguanas are expected to end up in harsh conditions and fall from the trees where they usually perish. As cold-blooded reptiles, iguanas are temporarily paralyzed when the temperature dips below 10c, causing them to lose their grip. Authorities issued warnings, especially for Tuesday morning, urging people to watch out for Iguanas falling from trees and other unexpected places.